Consequences
by TheAUWalker
Summary: It wasn't just him, they had all been lulled into a false sense of security, become careless. She was only the front of the storm, only a taste of what was to come crashing down over their heads. SniperxRespawn, in human form.


Sometimes it was torture.

The constant wonder of if they knew or did not know, how much they knew or how little, what they thought. Sniper's facade had always been that he didn't give a damn what anyone else thought-he had his ways and his standards. But lately it was starting to plague his mind, and the Australian wondered if he was going insane. He wondered if it was _her_ that was making him lose it.

He became paranoid.

Sniper would be eating the tasteless slop for breakfast and out of the corner of his eye would be Engineer, and it nearly drove him crazy that he couldn't see the man's eyes. Engineer was staring at him, he knew everything, knew it all.

On the battlefield, Sniper started to miss once in a while. It was a small thing but it mattered to him and it mattered to the enemy to hear the bullet whistling past their ear.

During the day, Sniper felt dead.

He felt as if he was numb, sounds muted and vision hazy. He wasn't coherent, and it nearly drove him insane. This went on for months, and the man almost snapped.

That was before he got used to her poison.

-o-o-o

Sniper would see her during the day, occasionally, the rare time when he was caught off guard. Her, on her stool with the giant, glowing screen. He would see his face, and sometimes if he was quick enough to open his eyes and shake the dizziness off, he would see his face marked off by a red X.

Sniper never stayed for long.

He wasn't really allowed to, actually, the point was to come back to life and go back out there. She moved as his team did-the further down the battlefield they went, the next respawn room she moved to.

The other team probably had one too.

Sniper wondered if theirs would be identical to the RED's. It was probable, and for a moment a twinge of jealousy would plague him.

She was a new thing, an experiment, an upgrade from default.

Respawn.

Sniper never dared to linger. Electricity seemed to crackle in the air, and she was so brisk, prim and proper, dismissing him once he was up and standing. They both needed to get back to work, and never spoke or talked-only a few glances at the other, and a few times when he ventured to thank her.

She told him that thanking her wasn't necessary, it was her job.

None of Sniper's other team members commented on her presence, her existence. She was just there, and sort of a forbidden topic.

Respawn sat there with her big glowing screen, touching their individual plates when they died. It was a much faster way of bringing the members of the team back, and more efficient than default.

Over time, Sniper got more and more of her features.

Short, red hair, the color of blood spilled all over the battlefield. The few glances he got at her face revealed electric blue eyes, and skin the color of the white light he saw when he died.

Sometimes after ceasefire while the members of his team were talking and laughing around him, Sniper would sit and think about her. He'd wonder where _she_ went after ceasefire, if she was alone.

Sniper knew he shouldn't meddle in affairs that weren't his own, but part of him didn't listen to the rational side.

His meddling started the day he was waiting to die.

-o-o-o

Sniper woke up, as usual, rifle gripped in hand. The knife in the back he'd gotten from a spy was absent, all blood and wounds cleaned up and the pain gone.

Her back was to him.

She always wore that black leather suit thing-skintight, hugging her curves. Respawn was the epitome of posture, tapping away on her screen.

"Thanks."

As predicted, her cold monotone made an appearance.

"It's my job."

Sniper realized he had nothing to say. He'd dared to spend precious seconds, was spending them even now, and had nothing to say.

"Something wrong, Mr. Mundy?"

"Thanks."

It had come out of his mouth before he could even register.

She swung around in her chair, fingers ceasing to manage the screen on her desk. Her eyes were electric, glaring, boot heels tapping impatiently against one another.

"You're welcome." she said briskly, and turned back around.

There was a crack behind him, and Scout gave him a weird look before grabbing his bat and rushing out of the room.

Sniper followed.

-o-o-

He found it was enjoyable to piss her off.

Perhaps Sniper was just being an ass, but if she couldn't take anyone's jibes then she wouldn't have taken the job. He'd prod her with questions until she whirled, fire in her eyes.

Sniper would grin, and find his hand was steady while taking his next shot on the battlefield.

Respawn had a faint British accent in her voice that also sounded a little Russian at times, but she never told him where she was from. She never answered any of his questions.

They formed sort of this odd relationship.

Past her initial hate of the Australian, when they met they would shoot snarky remarks back and forth and a few times he even got the corners of her mouth to twitch up in an almost-smile.

He could see she was lonely, though. After a while it started to take her too-the never-ending loneliness and solitude. They were surrounded by others, but it was a cruel system and there was no real sense of friends, family, or friendship. It was false, fabricated, sadness in their eyes.

He'd come through one day, a good taunt on his lips, and he noticed Respawn was not in her chair. The chair was tilted at an odd angle against the desk, as if she'd been shoved from it.

"Medic?"

Scout.

Sniper rushed around the rectangular console separating her desk and chair from the rest of the room to see Respawn on the floor, lips blue and Scout crouched over her.

"I just came in here and she was coughing like hell! Fell right oughta her chair!"

There was blood on her lips.

Sniper knelt by her sprawled form on the ground and looked up at Scout.

"Go get Medic."

The boy nodded and ran, leaving Sniper and Respawn alone. Her pulse was faint and her chest was barely rising, her eyes closed tightly.

The door opened and Medic followed Scout back in, his Medigun at the ready. The German bent down and aimed the machine at her, a strange look on his face.

They all waited in silence for a few minutes, watching the red rays sink into her chest. Nothing happened and Scout was uncomfortably twitching, rocking back and forth on both feet.

"Nothin's happening!"

Medic took her wrist.

"She's dead."

A cold feeling plunged through Sniper's chest, but before anyone could say anything, there was a crack behind them, and Respawn's body disappeared.

"What are you all doing?"

The three turned to see her staring at them, confused.

"Sniper, Scout, I will take care of this."

Sniper turned around one last time before he left, watching Medic quietly explain something to Respawn. She was shaking her head, slightly panicked, and her eyes met Sniper's.

The door closed.

Medic never brought up the incident, nor did Respawn. Scout was silent about it and no one else knew, but it kept Sniper up.

He went to see Medic.

"What's wrong with Respawn?"

"It is private medical information, Herr Sniper, I cannot-"

"Did you really expect me to go around flaunting it?"

Medic hesitated.

"She has a disease. I am not sure what, yet, but it is obviously fatal. She had no idea, and I will keep working for the cure."

-o-o

When he saw her, again, it was like everything was back to normal. She gave no indication or no emotion, but it wasn't normal.

They didn't joke.

Life was a funny thing at the facility, no longer really taken seriously. One could be reckless, rushing into the heat of battle on a suicide mission. You didn't have to watch your back, because you could just come back.

But Sniper knew without Respawn telling him that it was her first time coming back. He knew it wouldn't be the last and eventually she would get used to it, like they all did. She would get used to them.

He wondered if they would ever get used to each other.

-o-o-


End file.
